A MUST READ.... rAPC DEFECTIONS; BIAFRA AS METAPHOR, ARMY OF POISONOUS CHAMELEONS

As a teenage soldier in the Biafran Army  I  remember  vividly the sudden ecstatic joy that erupted all over 'Biafra' land when we woke up in the morning, under that August light drizzling showers, to hear of the exploits of Biafran troops that entered the Mid West Region and declared  it a liberated republic.

On the heels of that was the cheering news (so, it seemed at that time) that Biafran  soldiers were at Okitipupa in the heart of the Yoruba Southwest  region heading to Lagos with intent at liberating the then federal capital territory and, indeed, the entire Southwestern region of Nigeria so as to declare the Oduduwa Republic . As it turned out, the Yoruba intelligentsia are not usually given to spontaneity. They are known to cautiously deliberate over every move before any action is taken. Of course, the rest is  history as we all know what happened thereafter . . The Biafran retreat from Ore is considered the turning point of the war. Oduduwa republic had to wait for the time of their chosing rather than be imposed on them by the highly excited and combustible Biafran troops .

Today's political climate seems to remind one of that same coloration of an early jubilation  as it is presently the case with the r- (remnant army ) of APC . Every war has its core strategy but emergent tactical  maneuvers is what eventually wins each battle . Wining series of battles makes the fighting force to win the war In this present 'war' that the Nigerian masses are fighting to keep safe their dear country  from marauding looters, there are layers of battles that must be won before either side can declare victory. Just like the Biafran troops at Okitikpupa had that early ephemeral victory celebration, so are the remnants Army of Poisonous Chameleons called -rAPC that are clinking glasses now. What they have as victory presently is a pyrrhic one, to say the least .

The same manner the marauding Biafran troops failed woefully to take into consideration the opinion and interest of the Southwest geopolitical zone these present remnant Army of   Poisonous Chameleons -rAPC have also woefully failed to take the interest of the entire Southwest geopolitical zone which was the known deciding factor when GEJ PDP won the 2011 presidential election into consideration. The same Southwest geopolitical zone was the decider when PMB won in 2015 . In 2019 and beyond, any political gyrocompass that fails to align the political ecosystem of the Southwest geopolitical zone is bound for the precipice just like the impetuous Biafran declaration of Oduduwa republic outside the terms and chosing of the Southwest geopolitical zone. For those who fail to learn from history are always left to wallow in hysteria!

A cursory look at the war strategy of the various sector Commanders during the Nigerian civil war would reveal that 1st Division Commander, General  Shuwa's slow and steady methodological approach yielded far more sustainable results to the advantage of the Nigerian Army . Under his command strategy and tactics 1st Division conquered far more Biafran territories and more often than not, held on to the conquered ground more tenaciously than any other division in the Nigerian Army.  Lessons that should be learnt is  that in wining any war, a good combination of strategy and tactics is required . Not a sudden Blitzkrieg like the Germans did into Russia or Biafrans  into the Mid west . Incidentally , General BUHARI cut his teeth under General Shuwa, the  great Nigerian Army General of strategy and tactics.

That President M BUHARI is a man of strategy have been recorded globally . After all  it is on record that when he attended the strategic course at the  United States Army War College ( USAWC) with General Collins Powell he returned to Nigeria with records of excellence. For those who may chose not to know it is very significant to state here that , USAWC was founded in 1901 to specifically cater for the strategic leadership training needs of the U.S. military.
Some of the prominent servicemen who had gone through USAWC in the past were President Muhammadu Buhari, Collin Powell, Dwight Eisenhower, George Patton and Norman Schwarzkopf.When a serving Nigerian president finds himself among the company of such listed great man above as colleagues certainly he knows silently what strategy and tactics implies. You can not wish him away .

 In analyzing the President response after the rAPC defection, one can see the manner he summarized their actions with the age long aphorism that every politics is local . It showcases depth and intellect .

The obvious failure by rAPC in  not taking into consideration that defining local interest of Southwest geopolitical zone has nailed their political coffin . Their ambition is dead on arrival. One may therefore wish to look at the core interest of the  other remaining five geopolitical zones and see how they play out under the present circumstances. What could be the interest of the Northwest , the political zone of Mr President. Obviously the answer is clear. Buhari holds his ground fully there. The Northeast zone is more robustly disposed in their  support to BUHARI considering the joy that have returned to most homes and areas following the maximum attention he has given to the twin main issues of the zone ; (1) socio- economic development of the zone ravaged by an avoidable insurgency foisted upon the zone by the clueless corrupt and incompetent PDP leadership style.
(2) An accelerated kinetic response to the menace of boko haram.

Yeah , these  remnant Army of Poisonous Chameleon-rAPC may be under the euphoria  that the North Central zone is off the table . A gross mistake when the real political calculus of the zone is X-rayed further. Buhari has never lost in Niger and Nassarawa states  since he began contesting elections. When figures from other four  states are examined one after the other, pundits of rAPC would be proven wrong.

We may also be fooling ourselves to think that the tendency of the Southsouth and Southeast  are locked up into  rAPC , that is not true. The current ongoing digital enhancement of INEC deployable technology will surely be the nemesis of anyone planning to disallow a fair result outcome. In the past political permutations in these zones were highly dependent on the usually allocated and hand written results.

After all said and done, the ordinary man will want to look at the critical performance of PMB and declare him fit for a home run with the ball come 2019 . The present euphoria of the remnants Army of  Poisonous Chameleon - rAPC will be short lived . They will eventually lose several battles ahead because they are lacking in any sustainable strategy and tactics just as the highly excited Biafran soldiers of 1967 did.

The mega  social intervention programme of PMB will speak for him. When it was launched, he refused the programme to wear APC party colors. He said it was for Nigerians irrespective of party leanings. As members of APC we felt otherwise but today we can see the wisdom in his decision to simply deliver the program to every Nigerian irrespective of his or her party membership. Besides, about nine million children nationwide are fed one hot meal a day in the home grown school meal programme. At least, on the average, four other persons are connected to each child being fed at school. That is almost 40 million people being reached directly or indirectly. If only a quarter of them became voter influencers we can estimate the domino effect such  figure will cause in electoral calculations.

Currently, we have about 13 million rice farmers in Nigeria https://allafrica.com/stories/201807100069.html actively engaged in value chain of rice farming and rice milling derived from the CBN's Anchor borrowers programme. These are adults within voting age. They  are accessing fertilizer cheaper than in the past . They have  better yields these days and more millionaires have been created in the value chain more than any other sector of our economy . Do the simple computation of these 13 million rice farmers who are doing well in the economy because of BUHARI'S policy in rice farming and imagine in what direction their voting sympathy will naturally be guided to.

The combined 2.7trillion Naira spent on capital infrastructure in the 2016 and2017 fiscal years means that another set of millions of people have been mobilized for work and are enjoying certain leveraged income. They know who made it possible. They know now why they are happy parents  once more to their children. They are all voters for PMB. The young man with 24/7 power supply tied to his economic hub knows that it was not so three years back. He can relate to the fact that PMB made it possible under his watch . Buhari's records speak volume positively and the common man Knows it.

If under PDP  government the Assets Management Company of Nigeria (AMCON) toxic loan grew up to the equivalent of the nation's annual budget during erstwhile President Goodluck Jonathan years when annual budget figures averaged about five trillion Naira. One should wonder how on earth can this same people that raped the common man be allowed under any guise to continue the perpetuation of their assault on our commonwealth?

Among other toxic load of national indebtedness  carried over from the PDP years now weighing down on our dear nation are the Enron energy deal with offshore judgment against Nigeria at about $ 12 billion, the Odukpani gas and power deal that got another offshore judgment against Nigeria of about $8 billion. The combined indebtedness as it stands is to the tune of about $20 billion which is roughly  the annual earning of the country.  Payment of it can throw Nigeria into another economic tsunami and cycle of recession if PDP looters were to get hold of this country's keys to CBN!

They are gathering again as "food is ready vultures" they are only targeting the  $47 billion built up foreign reserve. They only want to "come and chop" again because Buhari has built up reserves by plugging the leakages and stopping the wastage. The battle for the soul and body of Nigeria this time had truly begun. This time, it is between the ordinary man and woman of Nigeria and those that feel that they own Nigeria. The question should be who actually owns Nigeria ? Is it the 100000 Nigerians with toxic AMCON loans or the 190 million and suffering Nigerians?

Certainly  Nigerians know better now and are prepared to fight the battle of their life with there PVCs. They  will seize back a country that rightfully belongs to them .Once and for all, they will consign these marauding  rapists of our commonwealth to the dustbin of history.

Chidia Maduekwe (Kanyi Kesandu )
DIRECTOR MEDIA-BSO